A serious gasoline shortage in Bulgaria - this is what owners of small gas stations in our country are reporting. The problem has been going on for several days. They claim that the supply to their sites has been suspended. The reason is the lack of bioadditive, which is included as a mandatory component in gasoline due to a European directive.
The problem does not only affect Bulgaria, but also several other countries. According to a requirement of the European Union from March this year, fuels must be sold with a bioadditive. According to environmental requirements for fuels, all gasoline must now contain at least 5% bioethanol.
Kalin Yovchev is the owner of three small gas stations in the Plovdiv region. He says that the case has been going on since the beginning of last week. "We only have a problem with the supply of gasoline. As far as we know, there is no biocomponent to be added to gasoline, and this is the reason for the shortage. Requests for supplies are being rejected precisely for this reason. Supply is difficult, we are waiting for confirmation of requests, and refueling is being interrupted. Two of my sites have not been working for days. Yesterday they delivered some quantities to fill the gap," explained Yovchev.
According to him, the bioadditive is being added to mixing facilities owned by the "Lukoil" refinery. "The problem is widespread, gasoline is not available at sites throughout the country or is available in limited quantities. Larger gas stations have a larger storage capacity, which allows them not to experience a shortage. In addition, they probably had earlier information about the problem, so they overstocked. There are no indications of an increase in fuel prices despite this. The problem should be resolved within a month," suggests Yovchev. He called for a derogation - permission to offer the fuel without a bioadditive.